I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of mobile telephones. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel and improved mobile telephone that displays an information icon and provides help information when the icon is activated.
II. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration and operation of a mobile telephone in the prior art. FIG. 1 is a block diagram that depicts a conventional mobile telephone 100. The mobile telephone 100 includes display 101, dialing buttons 102, menu scroll control 103, menu select control 104, and control circuitry 105. The control circuitry 105 includes user information 111. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that FIG. 1 is simplified for clarity, and some conventional components are omitted. Those skilled in the art will also understand that FIG. 1 is a logical view of the control circuitry 105. The control circuitry 105 is implemented using processors, memory, software, control lines, and other conventional circuitry.
The control circuitry 105 controls the display 101 to display the user information 111 and icons 113. The control circuitry 105 operates in response to control signals from dialing buttons 102, the menu scroll control 103, and the menu select control 104. The user information 111 could be any operational information and typically includes menus and menu selections. The user is able to navigate through menus to control the configuration and operation of the mobile telephone 100. The mobile telephone 100 displays the icons 113 to indicate conditions, such as a new page or a new voice message. The user then operates the mobile telephone in a conventional fashion to access the page or voice mail. Unfortunately, there is not an effective technique for using icons to quickly display help information to the user.
The present invention includes a novel and improved mobile telephone that effectively provides help information that is a relevant to the user information on the display. Advantageously, the user conveniently obtains relevant help information by pressing an information key in response to an information icon.
The mobile telephone displays user information on a display. The mobile telephone displays an information icon on the display if help information is available that is related to the user information o n the display. The mobile telephone generates a control signal if an information key on the mobile telephone is activated. The mobile telephone displays the help information on the display in response to the generation of the control signal when the information icon is displayed.